The Church Of SpongebobThe United Church of Christ stands up for all
sorts of political issues while their flocks stand up and head for the doors.The Weekly Standard
By Mark D. Tooley
07/18/2005 11:30:00 AM

EPISCOPALIANS often get
tarred as America's most liberal Christian denomination. But there is a
more liberal one! (Hint: it's the one Howard Dean joined after he quit the
Episcopal Church in a dispute over a bike trail.)

And it's nearly as old, too.
Episcopalians can trace their history in America back to Jamestown in 1607,
but the United Church of Christ's antecedents date to the Puritans who
arrived in New England only a couple decades later.

It's been a roller coaster
of a ride across the centuries for the United Church of Christ, from
gun-toting Calvinists to super-PC gay "marriage" proponents. The
l.2 million member United Church of Christ (UCC) became the first major
Christian denomination in America officially to endorse same-sex nuptials,
when its General Synod met from July 1 to July 5 in Atlanta.

While they were at it, the
General Synod also targeted Israel for sanctions (forgetting, among so much
else, the philo-Semitism of its Puritan forbears) and opposed Israel's new
security wall. And for good measure, it opposed privatization of Social
Security, opposed President Bush's 2006 budget proposal, urged the United
States to support the International War Crimes Tribunal, and advised Bush
to nominate a "moderate" Supreme Court justice.

The UCC didn't say yes to
every proposal, mind you. It rejected a resolution defining marriage as the
union of man and woman. And the UCC decided to remain Christian! It voted
to affirm its continued belief in Christ and to retain a cross on its
official logo.

THE UCC ATTRACTED MAJOR
MEDIA ATTENTION late last year with its controversial television ads
featuring bouncers outside a church turning away racial minorities, the
disabled, and a same-sex couple. The implication was that the UCC, unlike
other churches, was inclusive and tolerant.

But despite the UCC's boasts
of inclusiveness, it has lost nearly one million members since 1960. It
lost another 30,000 last year alone. The ongoing membership hemorrhage
notwithstanding, the UCC's president recently celebrated his denomination's
"extravagant hospitality" and "evangelical courage."

As part of that hospitality,
the UCC's "marriage equality" resolution urges legal recognition
of same-sex couples as married and encourages local churches to bless
homosexual unions as marriages. Among major denominations, only the
Episcopal Church, having elected its first openly homosexual bishop two
years ago, comes close to the UCC's pro-homosexuality stance. Like the UCC,
the Episcopal Church is also fast declining in membership.

REGARDING ISRAEL, the UCC
General Synod held back from directly endorsing an immediate divestment of
church funds in firms doing business with Israel. But the final resolution
on "economic leverage" to promote Middle East peace called upon
church agencies to consider "divesting from those companies that
refuse to change their practices of gain from the perpetuation of violence,
including the Occupation" of Palestinian land by Israel.

The UCC similarly voted to
oppose Israel's security wall, which guards against Palestinian terrorism,
because parts of the wall are inside the West Bank. There were no
suggestions from the UCC as to how Israel might better defend itself. Nor
did the UCC suggest divestment targeted at any other nations except for
Israel. UCC President John H. Thomas explained, "Our vision is of a
shared future for Israel and Palestine, symbolized by the sharing of the
city and holy sites of Jerusalem as a capital for both states."

Rabbi Abraham Cooper,
associate dean for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called the resolutions
"functionally anti-Semitic." Cooper said, "To single out
Israel as a human-rights abuser while turning a blind eye to actual abuse
in tyrannical regimes around the world is not only delusional, but smacks
of an anti-Jewish attitude."

Another Jewish leader
responded similarly to the UCC's anti-wall resolution: "We understand
Christian concerns about a wall, but we believe that saving human lives is
more significant than property," said Neil Goldstein of the American
Jewish Congress. "That wall has saved the lives of Jews, Christians,
and Muslims."

The pro-gay marriage
resolution required less discussion and negotiation than the anti-Israel
statements. It passed overwhelmingly, with "only a whimper of
opposition," in the words of an official UCC news release. "On
this July Fourth the General Synod of the United Church of Christ has acted
courageously to declare freedom," rejoiced UCC President Thomas
afterwards.

Before voting on same-sex
marriage, the delegates were addressed by former Atlanta mayor, United
Nations ambassador, and UCC pastor Andrew Young. "I'd be disappointed
if we did not approve this resolution," Young said. "I think it
would be consistent with our historic spirit of fairness and justice. But
it also would be consistent with the spirit of grace and mercy as the path
to peace and that you judge not that you not be judged."

No doubt, Young also agreed
with the UCC's quick reaction to Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation from the
Supreme Court. The General Synod commended her "moderating
influence" on the court and urged "bi-partisan" consultation
between Bush and the U.S. Senate.

With such statements in
mind, Thomas noted that the UCC "has sometimes engendered cruel
hostility and mean spirited attacks" for its provocative political stances.
Nevertheless, he said the denomination would not be deterred. Setting the
example, Thomas denounced the U.S. war in Iraq as "an unholy war of
deceptions and shame, a war that continues to destroy, demean and
abuse."

In a fitting conclusion to
the UCC event, children's cartoon character SpongeBob Square Pants made a
surprise visit. As a UCC news release explained, "SpongeBob and the
UCC share something in common. They have both been accused by right-wing
critics of endorsing a gay lifestyle."

Earlier this year,
conservative and gay groups sparred over SpongeBob, who holds hands with a
starfish and appeared in a commercial touting "diversity."
Bouncers from the UCC TV spot appeared on the stage with SpongeBob, who
took their arms and chirpily suggested, "Let's go find a UCC
church." Such fun! It was the perfect conclusion for the UCC. Pretend
bouncers, escorting an children's cartoon character, to increasingly empty
"inclusive" UCC local churches.

Mark D. Tooley directs
the United Methodist committee at the Institute on Religion and Democracy.